David Katzenstein (January 3, 1952 – January 25, 2021) was an American

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, the ...

and prominent

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

researcher. He was professor emeritus of infectious diseases and global health at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Early life and education

Katzenstein was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. His father, Henry Katzenstein was a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, and his mother, Constance Allenberg Katzenstein, was a

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

. He attended the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

where he earned a BA in biology in 1973. He was an intern in internal medicine at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, working with the indigenous tribes found there. He also received his MD from UCSD in 1977.

Teaching

After completing his residency in San Diego in 1980, he taught at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, and until 1986 at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Research

He developed a relationship with the

medical microbiology Medical microbiology, the large subset of microbiology that is applied to medicine, is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, this field of science studies various ...

department at the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

's medical school while he was at the University of California. As a result of this relationship he became "one of the first U.S.-based

H.I.V. The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

researchers to commit to working in this region of the world." Katzenstein worked as a senior research fellow at the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research from 1987 until 1989, where he worked under

Anthony Fauci Anthony Stephen Fauci ( ; born December 24, 1940) is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, and the chief medical ...

. At that time he became a faculty member at Stanford University as a clinical assistant professor of infectious diseases. He became the associate medical director of the AIDS Clinical Trial Unit at Stanford, which conducted clinical trials and research on antiretroviral drugs which helped people with HIV live longer.

Director of the Biomedical Research and Training Institute

He joined the Biomedical Research and Training Institute in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

in 2016, after retiring from his position at Stanford and became its director. There he trained clinical researchers, and brought modern monitoring and diagnostic systems to community health centers. He also published research papers.

Memberships

He served on the editorial board of '' Current HIV Research''. He was a member of the

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

, the

Infectious Disease Society of America The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is a medical association representing physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases. It was founded in 1963 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. ...

, the

Society for General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...

, the

International AIDS Society The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's largest association of HIV/AIDS professionals, with 11,600 members from over 170 countries , including clinicians, people living with HIV, service providers, policy makers and others. It aims to ...

, the American Federation for Clinical Research and the Southern Africa Treat Research Network.

Personal life

In 2009, Katzenstein was in a hiking accident in Big Sur, California. He fell 90 feet into a ravine sustaining a compound leg fracture needing 17 separate surgeries. The bone became infected, and he never fully recovered, at first using a wheelchair but eventually using a cane. Katzenstein was married to Sharon Mayes, who died in 2007.

Death

Katzenstein died in

, Zimbabwe, of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe The COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ().The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Zimbabwe in March 2020. So ...

, at the age of 69, 22 days after his birthday. He was survived by a brother and two sisters; a step-daughter, and her sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katzenstein, David 1952 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American biologists 20th-century American biologists University of California, San Diego alumni University of California, Davis faculty University of Minnesota faculty Stanford University faculty American virologists HIV/AIDS researchers Scientists from Hartford, Connecticut Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe